


if you never take the first step, you cannot go too far

by gingerandtonic



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, The Inner Circle - Freeform, don't ask me where Mamoru is because he just straight up vanished from this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26459779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerandtonic/pseuds/gingerandtonic
Summary: "I'm - so - what, Rei?!" Usagi retorted."Beautiful." Rei shot back. "You're so fucking beautiful and infuriating."A slice of life fic about crushes, budding relationships and friendship, with plenty of the classic enemies-to friends-to lovers trope (as Aino Minako would say).
Relationships: Aino Minako/Hino Rei, Hino Rei/Tsukino Usagi, Kino Makoto/Mizuno Ami
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	if you never take the first step, you cannot go too far

“- And you never turn up anywhere on time, even when we have serious business to discuss, and you’re always whinging and moaning about your duty as if we don’t all feel it keenly too!! And you always get distracted by whatever food or man comes within a five foot radius of you, and – ”

“Alright, alright Rei-chan!” Usagi angrily protested down the phone. “As if you aren’t always competing with me for every boy I see! Quit lecturing me!” 

But Rei wasn’t done yet, and the angry chattering of her voice just seemed to stream louder through the earpiece. Usagi sighed, set the phone down on the bench and went to make herself a sandwich. When the other girl got started like this, there was no stopping her until she ran out of steam. 

She was just finishing off the crusts when the line finally fell silent, prompting her to launch across the table and make a desperate dive for the phone before Rei could catch her out. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow at the shrine. No, I won’t be late! Don’t you use that tone against your princess- aaarghh!” 

Rei had hung up, as usual. 

Usagi huffed and stomped upstairs, falling back onto her bed. Rei had a way of driving her up the wall whenever they spoke, transforming every conversation they had into an argument. It was maddening. She didn’t know why she put up with it. 

She had to remember her duty to work with the other senshi, a role which made it necessary to have a relationship of sorts. It made Usagi wonder if she and Rei-chan would be friends otherwise, outside of the Inner Circle and all that came with it. It seemed as though Rei put up with her most of the time. 

She was relieved Luna wasn’t here right now. Usagi needed privacy after that - well, that lecture, essentially. That’s what it had felt like. Rei might as well have been her teacher or her mother, the way she had carried on. Usagi fumed as she lay there thinking about it, turning over the words in her mind. 

_I’m not irresponsible_ , she asserted silently. _I’m disorganised and distracted, yes, but not irresponsible. Why would I stay here and transform, and fight, if I wasn’t responsible enough to recognise my duty?_

Rei’s words continued to echo through her brain in a maddening way, even as she tried to quieten them with a half-finished manga. In the end she gave up, tossing it across the room and heaving a sigh. 

She didn’t have Rei’s number memorised, so she hit ‘redial’ and hoped for the best. Fortunately Rei’s voice shot through the phone after only a couple of rings. 

“Hikawa Shrine, hello?” 

“It’s me,” Usagi replied flatly. “Can we meet?” 

“You could have sent out a message to everyone, Usagi-chan, rather than calling us all separately-”

“-No, Rei-chan, just you and I. We need to talk.” 

She heard Rei sigh down the phone, and bristled a little. 

“What have you done now, Usagi?” 

“I’ve done nothing,” Usagi retorted. “But I’m ordering you, as your princess, to have a meeting with me. It’s important. Do you have time today?”

The phone line fell silent for a moment. Usagi barely pulled rank in a serious context, and it was clear that she had caught Rei off guard. 

“Fine,” came the begrudging reply. “I’ve finished for the day, I can meet you in five at the park.” 

“I’ll see you then,” Usagi replied, and this time she hung up the call. 

Rei was already at the park when she got there, standing over by a tree and scuffing the toe of her shoe in the dirt. She looked up as Usagi approached, but didn’t smile. 

“Hey.”

There was a thick layer of tension in the air which made Usagi gulp a little. Or it could have been the fiery gaze which Rei somehow always seemed to channel with her dark eyes. 

“Hey.”

They stood there for a moment, avoiding eye contact. Rei seemed nervous, Usagi realised in surprise. She didn’t recall ever seeing the other girl look that way before, even when they were preparing to face off against a monster. Usagi might have lost her nerve, then, if she hadn’t been so pissed off. 

“We’re supposed to be a team,” Usagi blurted out, and Rei looked up at her with startled eyes. “We fight our enemies, you all protect me, and I protect you. I know you don’t care about me, but you’re a vital part of this team and we need to be civil. You can’t just yell down the phone at me like earlier!”

Rei opened her mouth, then closed it. Her dark eyes hardened. “I obviously do care about you, Usagi,” she retorted through gritted teeth, “otherwise I wouldn’t be putting so much energy into saving your ass all the time. You don’t make it easy for me to protect you.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it!” Usagi’s face flushed with anger. “I walk into a room and it’s all how Usagi did this, Usagi did that, Usagi’s so useless - I can’t do anything right, as far as you’re concerned!” 

“That’s because you never listen, Usagi-chan! You only tune in when someone brings up ice cream!” 

“I AM YOUR GODDAMN PRINCESS, RE-EIII,” Usagi wailed, “SHOW ME SOME GODDAMN RESPECT!” She turned and stormed off, floods of tears running down her face. 

Rei cursed under her breath as Usagi left. She briefly debated whether to go after her, but she’d pushed Usagi too far and it would just make things worse now. 

Slowly she collected her thoughts and started to walk back to the shrine, simmering with regret and anger. She knew she’d been too hard on Usagi, but that girl had a real knack for getting under her skin. It was hard to treat her as royalty when she was such a stupid baby about everything. 

She sighed deeply. Rei knew she was going to get a call later tonight - probably from Minako - trying to play counsellor and smooth things over. She already wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the aftermath of this at their next senshi meeting. 

\-----

The ringing of Ami’s bedside phone startled her out of concentration, and she bit down hard on her pencil in surprise. Wincing, she pulled it from her mouth and grabbed the handset. 

“Hello?” 

High pitched sobs wailed down the line, followed by a series of hiccups. 

“Usagi-chan, what’s wrong?” 

“Re-rei is s-s-so meeeaaann,” her friend bawled. Ami slumped back against the bed, massaging her temples with her free fingers. They were getting a lot of attention these days. 

“What happened, Usagi-chan?” 

Somehow she managed to extract the full picture from her inconsolable friend over the next few minutes. She’d never met anyone who could cry as hard and as long as Usagi. The waterworks kept coming and no matter what she tried, Ami still couldn’t figure out how to shut them off. 

Eventually she balanced the phone in the crook of her shoulder and turned back to her physics homework, still listening to Usagi’s weeping but also returning to her prior thoughts about how the senshi might make sense within the laws of physics. She mentally filed it away as something to consider properly later, when she could give it her full attention. If she was able to figure out the relationship the senshi had with their surrounding environments then maybe they could harness it and use it to their advantage. How did she even source the water needed for Bubble Spray, and where did Mako’s lightning conductivity come from? Maybe if she just- 

“I’M HAVING A CRISIS HERE AMI,” Usagi roared down the phone. Ami jumped, dropping the handset and scrambling to pick it up again. “S-sorry, sorry Usagi-chan! I’m listening!” 

A fresh wave of sobs started up, crackling the phone line. “H-how am I even going to face her at the meeting tomorrow?! She h-h-hates me!” 

Ami sighed. “Usagi-chan, Rei-chan doesn’t hate you. She just lets her anger get the better of her sometimes, and you argue back with her more than any of us. We’ll all be there, we’ll keep you two apart. It’ll be okay!” 

By the time Usagi had calmed down Ami was thoroughly exhausted, and ready to hand this mess over to someone else. After coaxing her friend off the phone and into bed she pulled out her address book, found Minako’s number and dialed. 

“Hello!” Minako’s cheery, if a little breathy voice sang down the line, accompanied by the sound of faint giggling in the background. 

“Minako-chan, it’s Ami. Listen, I don’t know if Rei-chan’s called you but she and Usagi-chan had a huge fight this afternoon, and I don’t know what to do to resolve it before our meeting tomorrow.” 

“Oh,” Minako replied, “give me a second, Ami-chan.” Ami heard muffled voices on the other end and raised one eyebrow. A door shut, and then Minako’s voice reappeared on the line. 

“So Rei-chan and Usagi-chan finally had their big blowout, huh?” 

“Something like that,” Ami sighed. “Usagi-chan was really upset this time, she’s convinced Rei-chan hates her.” 

“Give her a couple of hours and she’ll have forgotten all about it.”

“Minako-chan, I promised her we could get ice cream after the meeting tomorrow and she only cried harder.” 

She heard Minako let out a long, slow breath. “Wow. This is serious.”

\-----

It was getting dark when Rei’s phone finally rang. She sighed heavily knowing there was no point ignoring it, she was either going to have to face the music tonight or tomorrow at the meeting. Better to at least only have one person telling her off. 

She picked up. “Hello, Minako-chan.”

“You’re an idiot, Rei-chan.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and gritted her teeth. “I know.”

“Here’s what you’re gonna do.” Minako was all business. “Usagi’s going to turn up early for the meeting tomorrow, under the pretence of meeting Ami. Obviously, Ami isn’t going to be there but you will. You’re going to give her some flowers and grovel, she’s going to gush over them and forgive you, and then we can have our meeting in peace.”

“And if that doesn’t work?” growled Rei. 

“This is Usagi-chan we’re talking about, she loves grand romantic gestures. Even you can’t mess this one up.”

It sounded more stupid than romantic, but Rei knew she was backed into a corner. She heaved a deep sigh. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.” 

“You damn well will, Rei-chan. And don’t you skimp on that bouquet!” 

Rei slammed the handset back into the receiver, seething. 

\-----

She woke early next morning and crept out the back of the shrine, to where the wild flowers grew in bright clumps. Rei had been on the verge of rejecting Minako’s plan last night, but then she’d remembered Usagi’s tearful face as she ran off and thought better of it. 

_It’s just to keep the peace_ , she reassured herself. Just to keep everything running smoothly. _It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that._ It was so infuriating that Usagi was going to be the first girl she’d ever given flowers to. But she didn’t have a better plan and Minako had offered her one when she could have just told Rei to sort it out herself, so she bent down and started picking. 

Usagi was running late for her pre-meeting with Ami. She didn’t really understand why they had to meet beforehand - Ami had been strangely coy about it, on the phone this morning - but when it came to Ami these things were usually important. 

She hurried up the street to the shrine just a couple of minutes before they were all supposed to meet, hoping Ami and her would still have enough time to talk and already rehearsing her apology, when she came in view of the gate and screeched to a halt. 

Rei was standing there, arms filled with a huge bouquet of multicoloured flowers. She looked up and made eye contact with Usagi, and for a moment Usagi saw that same nervousness flash across her face. Usagi’s eyes widened. 

“Rei-chan.” She stepped forward, completely forgetting that they were supposed to be hating each other right now. “...What are you doing?” 

“I... I’m apologising,” Rei replied. “I was too harsh, Usagi-chan. I shouldn’t have said what I said. I’m sorry.” She held out the flowers towards Usagi, who was absolutely gobsmacked. She stood there gaping for a few moments while Rei slowly began to lose her nerve, and then seemed to come to her senses and sprung forward. 

“Oh, Rei-chan! I’m s-sorry too!” She threw herself at Rei, looping her arms around the other girl’s neck and half crushing the flowers. Rei felt her face heating up and floundered wildly, unsure how to react as Usagi buried her face in her neck. 

This was the scene that Ami and Minako came upon, moments later. 

“Looks like they kissed and made up,” Minako observed smugly. Ami eyed her curiously, then looked back at Usagi planting a tearful kiss on Rei’s red cheek. 

“I guess they did.”

\-----

_Her footsteps echoed loudly along the palace corridor as she ran towards the Princess’s chambers, but Venus didn’t slow down. The Princess was late for dinner with the King and Queen, again._

_Without knocking - they were past knocking now - she burst into the the Princess’s bedchamber. “Princess Serenity, hurry-”_

_She drew back, shocked as her earlier suspicions were unexpectedly confirmed. Princess Serenity was pulling on her white gown, hair in disarray, while Mars stared wide-eyed at Venus from the bed. Her uniform was in pieces all over the floor, scattered from one corner of the room to the other._

_“I- I’m sorry, your Highness. I’ll wait outside to escort you.” She backed quickly out of the room and closed the door behind her, chest heaving, mind racing. So it was true. That silent dance that Mars and the Princess had been doing around each other for months - lingering eye contact, brushing hands, nervous smiles - had finally reached its crescendo._

_Princess Serenity emerged five minutes later, with an air of cool indifference but nervous eyes that betrayed her true feelings._

_“I would appreciate it if you didn’t discuss this with anyone, Venus,” she said quietly as they walked down the corridor together. “Please know that Endymion is aware of this. We have an... arrangement.”_

_“You don’t need to explain, your Highness,” Venus replied, relieved all the same that she had. “I won’t say a word to anyone.”_

_She had plenty to say later that night, however, to Mars._

\-----

“I wish you’d seen it, Mako-chan. Rei-chan looked so flustered by the whole thing. Usagi-chan was practically climbing her.”

“It sounds so romantic,” Makoto giggled, climbing back into bed next to Ami and passing her a steaming bowl of tamago gohan. “I wish I’d seen it for myself.” Mako had turned up just after Ami and Minako, and Rei had practically thrown Usagi off of herself when she saw the pair approaching. 

“Rei-chan was all red in the face, I’ve never really seen her act that way before. Do you think it means anything?” 

Mako stirred the egg into her rice thoughtfully. “Don’t you think she was probably embarrassed about apologising? That was a pretty huge thing for her to do.” 

Ami frowned. “...Maybe. I guess I’m overthinking it.” She stirred and took a bite of rice and egg, and relaxed against Mako’s shoulder with a contented sigh. “You’re so good at cooking, Mako-chan.” She felt Mako kiss the top of her head and smiled. 

\-----

“Rei-chaaan.” Rei could see Usagi’s face out of the corner of her eye, upside down, where Usagi had flopped backwards over the side of the bed next to her. She had elected to sit on the floor against the bed, even though it was technically her room. “Why have you been reading that same page for five minutes?” 

“Why do you care?!” Rei snapped, hurriedly closing her manga. 

Usagi pouted. “Don’t be mean, Rei-chan! I know something’s distracting you!” 

“So? It’s none of your business.” 

“You admit it then!” Usagi crowed gleefully. “Go on, Rei-chan. What’s his name?” 

“There is no boy!” Rei growled, tearing the manga back open and hiding her red face in the pages. “Stop being so nosy!” 

After she’d patched things up with Usagi they’d slowly started to spend more time together. Usagi, as it turned out was a keen manga reader as well, and they’d taken to sharing their volumes and reading quietly in Rei's bedroom. It was the only way they could hang out without arguing, but sometimes even that didn’t quite work. 

“Rei-chan, I won’t tell anyone!” Usagi pleaded. 

“ENOUGH, Usagi!” Rei yelled, slamming the manga into her lap. 

Usagi burst into tears, Minako appeared suddenly in the door for their meeting, and Rei fought the urge to throw herself through the nearby window. 

Minako rushed over to Usagi and pulled her up off the bed into a tight hug, shooting Rei a pointed look over Usagi’s shoulder. _Shut up,_ Rei mouthed at her with a glare. Minako stuck her tongue out at her. 

“Usagi-chan, do you want to go for ice cream after the meeting? Rei-chan’s treat.” 

“R-really?” Usagi hiccuped, turning her tear-stained face to look at Rei. “W-would you do that, Rei-chan?” 

Rei opened her mouth and then closed it again, catching Minako’s steely gaze. “Of course, Usagi-chan. I’m sorry for snapping.”

Minako smirked as Usagi threw herself at Rei once more. 

\-----

“Thanks for saving my ass earlier,” Rei grumbled as her and Minako walked back to the shrine.

“What can I say, Rei-chan?” Minako smugly replied. “You know I’m the best.” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Rei sighed, not even bothering to argue back. 

“You know you can’t keep this up forever, Rei-chan. You’re going to have to tell Usagi-chan about your crush on her at some point.” 

“Wha- HEY!” Rei hissed, grabbing hold of Minako and pulling her away from curious passers-by on the street. “You can’t just say stuff like that out here!” 

“Come on, Rei-chan!” Minako carried on, unphased. “How are you ever going to know how she feels if you don’t tell her?”

“Shut up. We’ll talk about this inside,” Rei growled, marching Minako through the gate and up towards the shrine. 

“You haven’t told anyone, have you?!” she hissed, pushing Minako down onto her bed and sitting next to her. 

“Of course not. I’m not stupid.”

“Good.” She sighed. 

“Anyone can see it though, Rei-chan. You two have been at each other’s throats for ages, there’s so much chemistry! It’s the perfect enemies-to friends-to lovers tale!” 

“Not everyone knows what you know, Mina-chan,” Rei blustered, unsure what else to say. She felt like the rug was well and truly being pulled out from under her. 

“I can talk to her, you know,” Minako offered. “See if she feels the same way.” Rei narrowed her eyes at her. “Don’t worry, it won’t be like when I talked to you.” 

“I told you never to bring that up again,” Rei grumbled. “It was only a one-time thing, you know that.”

“I know,” Minako said lightly, picking up a strand of Rei’s hair and twirling it idly between her fingers. “She’d be a lucky girl, Rei-chan.” 

Rei blushed, her eyes snapping from Minako’s to the strand of twirling hair. “A _one-time thing_ , Minako.”

“I _know_ ,” Minako repeated, dropping the strand. “I said I was fine with it, I still am.” 

Rei decided to leave that for now and slumped back onto the bed, sighing heavily. “Usagi’s just so oblivious. And so boy crazy. I don’t even know if she really likes me as a friend, let alone more.” 

“You don’t know that for sure, Rei-chan,” Minako soothed. “You’ve been spending more time together lately, haven’t you? Usagi-chan wouldn’t do that if she didn’t like you.” 

“How can I be sure, though?!” Rei groaned, burying her face in her hands. “What if she thinks I’m weird?!” 

“Let me talk to her,” Minako insisted, pulling Rei up into a one-armed hug. “I’ll figure it all out for you.”

\-----

“Minako-chan, I’m not just going to tell you who I like! Give me a reason to.” Minako laughed and looped her arm through Usagi’s. “Oh, so you want me to bribe you, Usagi-chan?” 

“I accept ice-cream or chocolate. Or both.” 

“Fine, if you’re honest with me I’ll give you both.” Usagi’s eyes lit up, and she let Minako lead them both over to a park bench. 

“Have you ever had a crush on a girl before?” 

Usagi’s jaw dropped. “Whaaaa?! Minako-chan, what kind of question is that?!” 

She was protesting but her cheeks were already turning pink, Minako noticed with a satisfied smirk. Perfect. 

“Come on Usagi-chan, it’s _me_. Goddess of love and all that! You can tell me, I won’t judge.” 

Usagi looked a little stricken, and then blushed deeply. She pouted at Minako. “Fine, you’ve caught me. But I’m NOT telling you who it is.”

“That’s okay,” Minako agreed sweetly. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to, Usagi-chan.” Oh, this was all going so perfectly. _I’m so good at this_ , Minako complimented herself silently. 

Later that night she rung Rei, who threw herself at the phone after only one ring. “So? What happened?!” 

“I’m hearing wedding bells already, Rei-chan!” Minako sung down the line. Rei put her head in her hands and groaned. 

\-----

“Aaaargh. Why do we even have to learn this?! When will we even use it in the real world?” 

“Focus, Usagi-chan,” Ami reminded her, chewing on the end of her pencil again. Usagi was slumped on Ami’s bedroom floor surrounded by a messy pile of scribbled notes and a textbook open to a food stained page, starkly in contrast to Ami’s neat piles of revision. 

“I can’t focus!” Usagi complained. “Can we take a break, Ami-chan? Pleeeease?” 

Ami sighed. This would be the third break in an hour, but she herself was finding it hard to focus with Usagi fidgeting. “Okay, five minutes.” 

“Yay!” Usagi swept all her notes to one side and lay back on the floor. Ami couldn’t help but smile and shuffled over to her friend, laying down as well. 

They stayed like that, for a little bit, Usagi day-dreaming and Ami making a mental checklist of things she wanted to test herself on again. 

“Ami, do you remember when we first met?” 

Ami snapped out of her checklist. “Of course, Usagi-chan. You approached me in the hallways after that exam.”

Usagi wrinkled her nose at the memory of her score. “You were so shy, Ami-chan. It was cute. It’s still cute.” 

Ami was taken aback. “...thanks, Usagi-chan.”

“Oh, don’t thank me!” Usagi brushed her off. “Thank _you_. You’re so good at this studying stuff.” She felt around for Ami’s hand and squeezed it, but let her fingers linger softly in Ami’s.

Ami’s eyes widened. 

\-----

“Ami-chan, are you okay? You’ve barely touched your food.” 

“Oh!” Ami sat up from the pile of notes and books around her and grabbed the bento. “Sorry, Mako-chan. I got distracted.”

Mako sat down next to her and placed one hand on Ami’s back, stroking lightly. “Is that all?” 

Ami sighed. Mako knew her too well. “No.” She put the bento down again and turned to Mako. “Mako-chan... I think Usagi-chan likes me.”

Mako’s eyes widened, then she began to laugh slightly. “You mean she _like likes_ you? When did this happen?!” 

“I noticed it yesterday,” Ami replied miserably. “She just kept giving me all these looks, and then when we took a break she called me cute and held my hand. What do I do, Mako-chan?!” 

Mako moved her hand from Ami’s back to wrap it around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. “Usagi-chan won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. You can tell her you’re not interested, she’ll understand.”

“I don’t know if she even realises she’s doing it,” Ami sighed. “It’s just so... awkward.” She lifted her face up to Mako’s and traced a hand over her cheek, running her fingers through the strands of loose brown hair. “Maybe it’s time for us to tell them, Mako-chan.”

Mako looked away, pulling back from Ami’s touch. Ami felt anxiety rise in her chest. “I don’t know if I’m ready to do that, Ami. What if they react badly?” 

She could see the pain in Mako’s eyes and knew it wasn’t just about how their friends might react. It was deeper than that, the same thread of insecurities that Mako had cried about softly at two am when she had thought Ami wasn’t awake. The same ones which flashed across Mako’s face sometimes when she held Ami’s much smaller frame in her arms. All the things that Mako had never really opened up to Ami about, and yet they were things that she had always known were there, long since before Mako had first laid eyes on Haruka. 

“Mako-chan.” She ran her hands down Mako’s broad shoulders, stroking her upper arms. “These are our friends. They know you, and they know who you are. Telling them this won’t change that.” 

Mako looked back into her eyes and smiled weakly. “You’re braver than me, Ami-chan.” 

“If you want,” Ami continued, “I can come out to them first. Gauge their reaction. Maybe it’ll be easier if you see me doing it first?” 

Mako gaped at her. She knew Ami wasn’t as meek as she acted, but somehow the other girl still found new ways to surprise her. “You would... do that? What if they judge you?” 

Ami shrugged. “There’s a high chance that they won’t. I’m ninety-eight percent certain that Minako-chan has already been attracted to at least one girl, if not more. Rei-chan is harder to read, but she keeps blushing when she’s around Usagi-chan and you remember I noticed a few months back that her and Minako-chan were spending a lot of time together and trying to hide it from us. And Usagi-chan clearly likes girls, I just don’t think she’s realised it yet.” 

“Huh.” Mako smiled hesitantly. “Sounds like you’ve done your homework.” 

“Well yeah, of course,” Ami shot back playfully. “I wouldn’t go in unprepared, would I?” 

\-----

“That’s why I think we should use weather patterns and the elements to enhance our powers, where possible.”

“What, so I have to strike a match or something?” Rei asked, dubiously. 

“Well, yes, you could use existing fire in the surrounding area to enhance what you can create. You’re actually already sort of using your external influences to accentuate your powers. Your priestess training from the shrine makes your attacks much more powerful.”

“But I don’t have an element... What am I supposed to use?” Usagi asked blankly. Rei snorted. 

“Use the moon, dummy!” 

“She’s right,” Ami stepped in as Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei. “My theory is that during a full moon you’ll be able to channel your powers much more efficiently. You just need to make a note of the moon cycles and act accordingly when we fight.”

“Ohhh, I get it,” Minako jumped in. “I just need to use my endless charm and beauty to make the enemy weak at the knees!” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and winked at Rei. 

“Maybe you’d better sit the next fight out, Minako-chan,” Rei snickered. Minako jabbed an elbow into her side. “You can talk! You’re gonna need to carry a tinderbox everywhere!” 

They spent the next hour or so going over Ami’s research and lightly bickering, and ended up having a surprisingly productive meeting. The whole day was going so well: Rei and Usagi were mostly getting along, Mako was bright and animated, and Minako was relaxed. Ami knew she probably wouldn’t get much better odds than this. 

“Before we finish,” she began, taking a deep breath and not daring to look up at anyone, “I have something I want you all to know. I’ve realised I’m… bisexual. That means I, uh, like girls as well as boys.”

A stunned silence settled over the room. 

Ami tentatively looked up and saw Rei’s wide eyes and bright red face, Usagi’s look of utter confusion, and Minako’s mouth wide open. She suddenly felt dizzy, wondering if Mako had been right. 

“Me too,” Mako interjected suddenly. “We sort of realised it... together”. She reached out and grasped Ami’s hand in her own. She was shaking, Ami realised. 

All the eyes in the room flicked to Mako, who was now white as a sheet, and then back to Ami. And then suddenly Minako let out a high-pitched squeal and leapt at both of them. 

“You _guys_! When did this happen?! Oh, this is so romantic!” She grabbed them one in each arm and squeezed. “You two are so _good_ together!” 

Ami let out a shaky giggle of relief and hugged Minako back, but faltered as she saw Rei stand up and leave the room quickly. Usagi watched her go too and stood up herself, her eyes flitting worriedly between the door and her embracing friends. 

“It’s okay, Usagi-chan.” Ami broke free from Minako’s hug and walked over to her friend, fighting back her fear at Usagi’s lack of response. “Go find her.”

Usagi’s face relaxed into relief and she pulled Ami into a fierce hug. “Thanks, Ami-chan.” _I’m so happy for you_ , she whispered into Ami’s ear. Ami’s eyes filled with relieved tears she hadn’t realised she was holding back. 

“Do you think Rei-chan is mad at us?” Mako asked worriedly as Usagi left the room. Minako laughed softly. 

“No, she definitely won’t judge you two for this,” she replied, winking. “She’s just... going through some stuff. I think Usagi-chan can help her.”

Ami narrowed her eyes at her but decided it was better not to ask. 

\-----

Usagi found Rei out the back of the shrine, slumped on the ground, leaning back against the wall. 

“Rei-chan?” 

“Go away, Usagi.” Rei’s voice was muffled in her arms. Usagi slid down the wall and sat down next to her, reaching a hand out to her friend’s shoulder but then thinking better of it. 

“Rei-chan, there’s nothing wrong with Ami-chan and Mako-chan liking girls, you know? Minako-chan and I talked about it once. She said- ” 

“I’m gay, Usagi.”

Usagi drew back in shock. “You- wha- ” 

Rei’s face was still buried in her knees. “I can’t believe Ami-chan had the guts to say it before I did. And Mako-chan.”

“Rei, I...” Usagi didn’t know what to say. She sat there dumbly, watching the other girl shudder and sniffle, unable to process everything fast enough. 

“They were together all this time,” Rei spat out, lifting her head to reveal her tear stained face, “and I didn’t even know. What if I’d been brave enough to tell them? I could have had all your guys’ support if I’d just said something, but instead I hid it like the stupid coward I am.” 

“How could you have known, Rei-chan?” Usagi replied softly, moving closer and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “None of us knew. Even Minako-chan didn’t know, and Minako-chan _always_ knows.” 

“It shouldn’t have mattered if I’d known,” Rei growled. “I should have been strong enough to say it anyway.”

“Rei-chan.” Usagi’s hand was on her face suddenly, wiping her tears away. “You _are_ strong, whether you tell people or not.” 

Her face was so hot under Usagi’s touch, but it hardly mattered now. Everything was turning upside down, all her friends were suddenly coming out at once, and for once Rei felt defeated by it all. There was hardly any point to this secrecy anymore. 

She opened her mouth, but Usagi’s attention was already elsewhere. “Hey.” She had caught sight of the wild flowers, still mostly in bloom a few metres away from them both. “Those look familiar.” 

Rei followed her gaze and snorted. “What, you think I’d spent actual money on flowers for you Usagi-chan?!” 

Usagi grinned, suddenly looking a little shy. “I know you would, Rei-chan.” Their eyes met, and Rei felt her mouth dry up. “I’m your princess, aren’t I?” 

\-----

_Hikawa Shrine, three months ago_

“Rei-chan, you can tell me, you know. I won’t say anything to anyone else.”

“I can’t, Minako!” Rei snarled. “You won’t get it!” 

“Oh, is it a girl? I get that. Don’t worry, Rei-chan.”

Rei stopped, shocked into silence. She found she couldn’t do anything except gape at Minako, who was now calmly examining her split ends as if they were merely talking about the weather. 

“How... how could you possibly get it?” Rei asked, dumbfounded. Minako laughed. 

“Hello, _goddess of love_ here! You think I care about gender?! If I like ‘em, I kiss ‘em.” 

“I... huh.” That kind of made sense actually, in a weird way. Rei was surprised she’d never thought to ask Minako about this before. “So you’ve... kissed girls?” 

Minako smirked. “I’ll tell you, but only if you tell me which girl you like.” 

Oh, shit. Well, if Minako already knew she liked a girl then this could hardly be worse, surely. “Ugh... fine.” She crossed her arms and slumped against the wall. “It’s... it’s Usagi-chan, okay?” 

Minako squealed and leapt up, dancing around the room. “I knew it!! Oh Rei-chan, this is great! This is so perfect!” She pranced back over to Rei and grabbed the other girl by the shoulders, shaking her excitedly. “Don’t you see?! It’s the classic enemies-to friends-to lovers trope! I LOVE that one!!” 

“Shut up, shut up!” Rei hissed, breaking away from Minako’s grasp. “Someone might hear!” She kept protesting until Minako finally calmed down and plonked back down on the bed next to her, grinning widely. 

“So when are you gonna tell her?!” Minako asked, eyes shining. Rei snorted. “ _Tell_ her? Are you crazy?! I can’t tell her!” 

Minako’s face dropped into a pout. “Why not, Rei-chan? You have to!” 

“I... I wouldn’t even know what to do,” Rei admitted, furious that Minako was somehow drawing all of this out of her. “I’ve never done anything with a girl before. I’ve barely even done anything with a boy. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Minako rolled her eyes at her friend. “That’s easy to fix, Rei-chan. I can show you what to do.” 

Rei sputtered. “You- I- Minako!” 

“What?” Minako laughed at her reaction. “Awww, Rei-chan. You’re blushing.” 

“Am not!” Rei protested angrily, turning her red cheeks away quickly and crossing her arms. “What kind of a crazy suggestion is that?!” 

“How’s it crazy? I know what to do, and you don’t. There doesn’t have to be any strings attached, Rei-chan.”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Rei growled, but she was starting to wonder if it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Maybe Minako was right, just this once. 

“Look.” Minako laid a hand on her arm. “If it’s fear of the unknown that’s keeping you from talking to Usagi-chan, then don’t you think this might help? It’s not as scary as you think, Rei-chan. It’s actually... really nice.”

Rei looked down at the hand on her arm, and then away again. “...How nice?” 

“ _So nice,_ ” Minako replied dreamily. “So soft, and sweet, and tender. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. It’s so... romantic.” She sighed happily. 

It sounded great, Rei thought silently. It sounded like what she’d read in those manga stashed far away, in the darkest corner underneath her bed. She looked back up at Minako and without really realising it she let her eyes drift to the other girl’s mouth, wondering what it would feel like. 

“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Minako asked gently. Rei bit her lip and nodded, her mind racing. 

“It’s okay. You can do it, Rei-chan. Let me show you what it’s like.” 

Rei leant forward and pressed her mouth to Minako’s. 

\-----

When Rei had finally calmed down and dried her eyes she let Usagi lead her back inside, to where their friends were still waiting. 

Minako was looking up at her with a mixture of concern and excitement, her eyes darting between the two of them. Ami looked weary but happy, arm in arm with Makoto who seemed equally relieved. 

She crossed the room to Ami and Mako first, pulling them both into a tight hug. “I’m sorry if I made either of you worry. My reaction wasn’t about you, I promise.”

Ami patted her shoulder gently. “It’s okay, Rei-chan. You don’t need to explain.” 

“No... I do.” _Breathe in, breathe out_. “I have something to tell you guys as well. I’m... I’m gay.” 

Minako gave a little, poorly disguised squeak of excitement. Ami’s and Mako’s eyes widened. “... _Oh_.”

“I should have told you all sooner,” Rei carried on, miserably. “It was weak of me to hide it. I’m sorry.”

“Rei-chan, I told you you have nothing to be sorry about.” Usagi put a hand on her back. “You weren’t ready to tell us before. It’s okay.”

“She’s right,” Ami agreed, getting up and pulling Rei into another hug. “It’s a hard thing to do, Rei-chan. But we’re so glad you’ve told us now.” 

They all gathered around Rei, pulling her into a group hug. Rei felt her eyes fill with fresh tears. “You _guys_.”

It was such a relief, having it all out in the open. Ami ordered pizza for them all while the others sprawled out across Rei’s bedroom floor, relaxed and laughing. It was like a new level of understanding was now passing among them, new knowledge that deepened their shared connection. 

She watched from across the room as Minako leant over and whispered something in Rei’s ear, causing the other girl to turn a deep shade of red. She frowned at Minako, who gave her a look in return, and then sighed and stood. She wove her way around the others and over to Usagi, and extended her hand to her. “Walk with me for a minute, Usagi-chan?” 

Usagi looked up in surprise. “...Sure, Rei-chan.” She stood, uncertainly and let Rei take her hand, leading her out of the room. Ami smiled to herself and ducked her head down, turning back to the phone. She’d been right after all. 

It was getting dark outside now, much to Rei’s relief. The veil of the night made it so much easier to admit things she’d never have the guts to say otherwise. 

“What is it, Rei-chan?” Usagi sounded so serious, so unlike herself. It was ironic, how Rei suddenly didn’t feel like snapping at her. _Possibly for the first time ever_ , she thought wryly. 

“Usagi-chan.” She turned to face her, barely visible in the dusk. “I didn’t say everything I wanted to say, earlier. There’s something... I should have told you, a while ago.” 

Usagi said nothing, just stared at her expectantly. Rei took a deep breath and barrelled ahead. 

“I know we can’t stop fighting. And maybe that’s just because of who we are. But I... I kind of like the attention you give me, when we fight. Sometimes I do it just to rile you up.” 

Usagi snorted indignantly. “Great way of showing me you care, Rei-chan. What a solid plan.” 

“Yeah, well you seem to inspire it in me, Usagi-chan,” Rei snapped back. “I don’t even know why I’m attracted to you sometimes. You’re just so- ”

Suddenly there were hands in her long hair tugging her forward, and the next thing she knew Usagi’s mouth was on hers and her hands were in her hair and now she was sliding her arms around Usagi’s neck, pulling her in closer. 

“I’m - so - _what_ , Rei?!” Usagi retorted, breaking the kiss as fast as she’d initiated it and pushing her backwards, until Rei felt her back hit the wall behind her. 

“Beautiful,” she shot back angrily. “You’re so fucking beautiful and infuriating.” 

Usagi made some kind of desperate little noise in the back of her throat and threw herself at Rei again. 

\-----

“I’m so good at this,” Minako complimented herself smugly. “I saw this all coming from a mile away, Usagi-chan. From the minute you told me you liked a girl, I knew it had to be Rei-chan!” 

“Oh, no,” Usagi replied casually. “That was Ami-chan, actually.” 

Minako dropped her spoon, spilling ice cream all down her shirt. 

“Well, actually it was sort of Rei-chan as well,” Usagi carried on thoughtfully, as Minako grabbed a handful of napkins out of the dispenser and mopped at herself woefully. “But I supposed I hadn’t realised it properly yet because we were fighting so much. I didn’t really think you could like someone you were fighting with, you know?” 

“It’s the classic enemies-to friends-to lovers scenario, Usagi-chan,” Minako sighed. “Am I really the only one that knows about this?!”

Usagi shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right Minako-chan.” She ate another spoonful of ice cream. “Ami-chan’s never been my enemy, though. She’s too lovely for that.” 

Minako put her head in her hands and groaned. “You never told me there were two girls, Usagi-chan.”

“Well, you never asked,” Usagi countered. “Of course there were two, Minako-chan! I’ve never liked just one person.” 

“Most people don’t like more than one person at once, apparently.” 

“Well, I guess I’m not most people then,” Usagi laughed. “The more the merrier. If Mako-chan agreed then I’d have her too.”

“What am I agreeing to, Usagi-chan?” Mako asked as she walked up to the table, arm in arm with Ami. 

“Don’t answer that,” Ami stopped Usagi hurriedly. Usagi giggled. 

Rei showed up a little later after they’d already ordered, late and flustered. “Sorry, everyone. My bus left too early and I missed it.”

“Late again, Rei-chan?! So irresponsible, Rei-chan!” Usagi taunted her, earning her a sharp tug on the ponytail nearest to Rei. “Owwww! You big meanie!” 

“You love it,” Rei teased, sticking her tongue out at her and pulling her into a hug. Usagi giggled and kissed her cheek. 

Minako leant back and surveyed the scene around her contentedly. Ami and Makoto were feeding each other ice cream, and Usagi was trying to climb into Rei’s lap. Rei was feigning annoyance, but she caught Minako’s eye and smiled. 

Minako smirked back. _Yeah_ , she thought. _I’m still pretty good at this._

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. I started this fic two years ago, put it down for a year and then spent the last 3 - 4 frantic days completing it. To say I revived it from the dead is an understatement. I can't believe it's done, honestly. 
> 
> I hoped you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! As always I don't own any of the characters. 
> 
> Title is taken from the song Jump In by High Places.


End file.
